‘Unfathomable’: US death toll from coronavirus hits 200,000

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 200,000 Tuesday, by far the highest in the world, hitting the once-unimaginable threshold six weeks before an election that is certain to be a referendum in part on President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis.

“It is completely unfathomable that we’ve reached this point,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher, eight months after the scourge first reached the world’s richest nation, with its state-of-the-art laboratories, top-flight scientists and stockpiles of medical supplies.

The number of dead is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 67 days. It is roughly equal to the population of Salt Lake City or Huntsville, Alabama.

And it is still climbing. Deaths are running at close to 770 a day on average, and a widely cited model from the University of Washington predicts the U.S. toll will double to 400,000 by the end of the year as schools and colleges reopen and cold weather sets in. A vaccine is unlikely to become widely available until 2021. Continue reading.

Trump Turns Question About Breonna Taylor Decision Into Self-Praise Session

Considering Donald Trump is not known for being a reader, it’s probably not a surprise that he can be bad at reading a room.

That’s what happened Wednesday when a reporter asked him for his reaction to the decision by a grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, to not charge the police officers who fatally shot Breonna Taylor in her death.

There are many things a president could have said, such as a statement calling for peace while the process continues or an expression of sympathy to Taylor’s family. Continue reading.

What is court packing, and why are some Democrats seriously considering it?

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Expanding the Supreme Court to more than nine seats sounds like a radical idea, and the term for it, “court packing,” sounds derisive because it has created controversy every time it has come up. But it has been attempted — and done — in American history before.

Now the idea is back in the political mainstream as some Democrats, frustrated that the Supreme Court could get even more conservative in the coming months, push presidential nominee Joe Biden to consider it if he wins the White House and Democrats take back the Senate majority.

Biden seems reluctant — he hasn’t acknowledged Democratic calls to do this since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died — but there is a world in which he may warm to it and attempt to push through legislation. Here’s what it is, its history and how it could become a reality. Continue reading.

Former staffer: White House politicized Bolton book review

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration officials repeatedly exerted political pressure in an unsuccessful effort to block the release of former national security adviser John Bolton’s tell-all book, a career government records professional said in a court filing Wednesday.

After Bolton submitted his book for prepublication review last last year, it was Ellen Knight’s job at the White House to make sure it did not contain classified information that could possibly threaten U.S. national security.

For the first time, Knight recounted the monthslong prepublication review process that she says was replete with delay tactics, legal maneuverings and a shadow review by a political appointee who had no experience in that area. She contends the actions were aimed at discrediting her work and blocking the publication of Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened.” Continue reading.

The Russian Trolls Have a Simpler Job Today. Quote Trump.

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As part of their attempt to interfere with the 2020 election, Russians are grabbing screenshots of President Trump’s tweets, or quoting his own misleading statements, analysts and officials say.

WASHINGTON — Four years ago, when Russian intelligence agencies engaged in a systematic attempt to influence the American presidential election, the disinformation they fed American voters required some real imagination at the troll farms producing the ads.

There was the exaggerated Texas secession movement, a famous ad in which Satan arm-wrestles Jesus while declaring, “If I win, Clinton wins,” and an effort to recruit protesters and counterprotesters to the same, invented rally over the rapid spread of Islamic influence in the United States.

This year, their task is much easier. They are largely amplifying misleading statements from President Trump, mostly about the dangers of mail-in ballots. Continue reading.

Trump won’t commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday again declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 presidential election.

“We’re going to have to see what happens,” Trump said at a news conference, responding to a question about whether he’d commit to a peaceful transfer of power. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”

It is highly unusual that a sitting president would express less than complete confidence in the American democracy’s electoral process. But he also declined four years ago to commit to honoring the election results if his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, won. Continue reading.

200,000 dead as Trump vilifies science, prioritizes politics

NEW YORK (AP) — “I did the best I could,” President Donald Trump said.

Huddled with aides in the West Wing last week, his eyes fixed on Fox News, Trump wasn’t talking about how he had led the nation through the deadliest pandemic in a century. In a conversation overheard by an Associated Press reporter, Trump was describing how he’d just publicly rebuked one of his top scientists — Dr. Robert Redfield, a virologist and head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Redfield had angered the president by asserting that a COVID-19 vaccine wouldn’t be widely available to the general public until summer or fall of 2021. So hours later, with no supporting evidence, Trump called a news conference to say Redfield was “confused.” A vaccine, Trump insisted, could be ready before November’s election. Continue reading.

FBI warns delayed election results could be exploited by foreign actors spreading disinformation

WASHINGTON – The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned that foreign actors and cybercriminals could try to discredit the electoral process by spreading false information as state and election officials work to certify 2020 election results.

The widespread use of mail-in ballots because of COVID-19 will cause delays in announcing the results of elections, as some states allow the ballots to be postmarked on election day. 

“Foreign actors and cybercriminals could exploit the time required to certify and announce elections’ results by disseminating disinformation that includes reports of voter suppression, cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure, voter or ballot fraud, and other problems intended to convince the public of the elections’ illegitimacy,” the agencies said in a public service announcement released Tuesday. Continue reading.

Trump Demands U.N. Hold China to Account for Coronavirus Pandemic

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In speeches broadcast at this year’s Covid-compromised General Assembly, the presidents of China and the United States punctuated an intensifying schism between the two superpowers.

President Trump assailed China as the coronavirus villain Tuesday in a strongly worded United Nations speech, extolling his own actions in the pandemic and demanding that the global organization hold accountable “the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world.”

Mr. Trump’s speech — made via prerecorded video to a General Assembly that was drastically curtailed because of the pandemic — was followed by a recorded speech from President Xi Jinping of China, who called the coronavirus a crisis shared by everyone. Offering no hint of contrition, Mr. Xi portrayed his nation of 1.4 billion people as having acted responsibly to combat Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.

“Any attempt of politicizing the issue or stigmatization must be rejected,” Mr. Xi said. Continue reading.

Rep. Phillips introduces bill to improve telehealth as pandemic threatens Americans’ Access to Care

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Thursday, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Steve Chabot (R-OH) announced they have introduced the bipartisan Telehealth Coverage and Payment Parity Act (H.R. 8308) aimed at improving Americans’ access to health care whenever and wherever they need it. The bipartisan legislation pushes for permanent coverage and payment parity for telehealth services at the federal level.

With the country grappling with the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, safe access to medical providers – especially for the sick and vulnerable – is more important now than it ever has been. Yet much of the innovation in telehealth demonstrated these past months will reverse when the pandemic is over. H.R. 8308 will ensure the country continues telehealth payment parity past the pandemic, increasing Americans access to care. The bill will require payers to cover the same telehealth services as Medicare, establish parity between in-person and telehealth covered services, and eliminate burdensome and unnecessary regulations around location for providers.

“It’s time to build a 21st century health care system that utilizes technology and prevention to keep people well,” said Rep. Phillips. “For many conditions, there is no simply no reason for healthcare to be tied to brick and mortar institutions. Telehealth has allowed us to effectively deliver care during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some of the flexibilities put in place to ensure Americans have access to care will be reversed when the public health emergency expires unless Congress acts to preserve them. I’m on a mission to make our progress permanent.”

Continue reading “Rep. Phillips introduces bill to improve telehealth as pandemic threatens Americans’ Access to Care”